TRLG Hires Former Pac Sun Man

Release:

True Religion Apparel Inc announced the appointment of Marc J. Klein to the newly created position of Vice President, Real Estate. Klein brings more than 12 years of experience negotiating and procuring real estate transactions and managing store strategy development for retailers such as Pacific Sunwear of California, Limited Brands and national property developer The Taubman Company.

Klein, 41, joins the company after serving as director of real estate for Pacific Sunwear of California where he executed the development and expansion of the company's retail strategy, the company's outlet store portfolio and assisted in developing its corporate real estate system throughout the entire country.

"Marc offers a wide range of experience in leasing, budget planning and store operations that will be key to managing our retail platform expansion," said Michael Buckley, president. "Marc's primary role will be to identify and negotiate leases for premier locations, and his experience doing a substantial number of mall and street deals on a national level annually will be critical to True Religion as we pursue our retail rollout."

"Marc is a retail veteran with invaluable experience in real estate development and management," said Jeffrey Lubell, chairman and chief executive officer. "He is the latest addition to a growing, talented team of professionals that will help establish True Religion as a global lifestyle brand."

Prior to joining Pacific Sunwear, Klein served in various roles of real estate management with Limited Brands, most recently as director of real estate for the Mid-Atlantic region. At Limited Brands, Klein was directly responsible for managing real estate for approximately 550 stores throughout the country, including store planning, legal and finance projects. Klein also played a key role in developing and maintaining ongoing relationships with developers, brokers and retail landlords throughout his region.

Klein began his career with the shopping center management company Landau & Heyman Inc and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He holds a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Michigan.

True Religion Press Release

TRLG Taps FOUR Marketing for UK Dist.

This is one of two TRLG releases I'm posting today:

True Religion Apparel Inc announced it has engaged FOUR Marketing as the company's new distributor in the United Kingdom, effective for the fall 2007 season.

As a leading independent fashion clothing and accessories distributor known for a high level of technical product expertise and intimate knowledge of the UK customer base, FOUR Marketing currently represents a variety of designer labels such as Against My Killer by Andrew MacKenzie, CP Company, Evisu, Fake London Genius, McQ by Alexander McQueen, Stone Island, Superfine and Tretorn.

"FOUR Marketing is the kind of business partner we seek to represent our brand as we take a methodical approach to growing our customer reach in the UK, Europe and other key international markets," said Jeffrey Lubell, chairman and chief executive officer of True Religion Apparel. "FOUR Marketing's engagement will dovetail with the efforts of our internal team as we work to position the True Religion brand for continued, sustainable growth."

"The United Kingdom has the potential to become one of our largest markets outside the United States," said Michael Buckley, president. "We believe this new distributor agreement significantly advances our goal of realizing the potential of and demand for True Religion products in this market, starting first in London and extending throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland."

FOUR Marketing has grown through an expanding network of independent boutiques and department stores by building long-term brand value and sales growth in line with brand expectations. The company plans to market and distribute the entire line of True Religion branded apparel to more than 250 retailers in the UK market, including Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Selfridges. Among the specialized resources available, FOUR Marketing's in-house media team, FOUR Publicity, is expert at executing extensive advertising campaigns to national newspapers, consumer magazines and lifestyle trade publications, and its retail group offers a wide range of experience coordinating retail expansion, including shop fit and concession design and installation.

True Religion Press Release

LS&Co Q1

Their spin:

First-quarter results reflect continued improvements in the company’s key operating measures, including net revenues and net income.

Net revenues for the first quarter were $1,037 million compared to $968 million for the same quarter in 2006, a 7 percent increase. Net revenues grew in each of the company’s three regions. The increase primarily reflects growth in the Levi’s brand across all regions due to a higher proportion of premium-priced product sales, strong growth in emerging markets and additional brand-dedicated retail stores. Net revenues also benefited from favorable currency exchange rates.

Net income for the first quarter increased 61 percent to $87 million compared to $54 million in the same quarter of 2006. The improvement reflects an 11 percent increase in operating income, mostly driven by a $25 million benefit-plan curtailment gain related to the closure of a U.S. distribution center, lower interest expense and a lower effective tax rate, partially offset by higher restructuring expenses.

“We're off to a good start this year,” said John Anderson, chief executive officer. “Our sales grew for the second consecutive quarter, reflecting a broad-based improvement worldwide. Our premium products are doing well with consumers in many markets. At the same time, some businesses, including Japan and the U.S. Levi Strauss Signature brand, need considerable improvement. Overall, we made very good progress in the quarter.”

First-Quarter 2007 Results

Gross profit increased 7 percent to $498 million compared to $465 million in the first quarter of 2006. Gross margin was stable at 48.0 percent of net revenues for the first quarter of 2007 compared to 48.1 percent of net revenues in the same period last year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 2 percent to $296 million in the first quarter of 2006 from $291 million in same period of 2006. SG&A as a percent of net revenues was lower at 29 percent compared to 30 percent for the same period last year. Higher SG&A expenses in the 2007 period were primarily attributable to increased selling expense related to new company-operated stores, higher distribution and marketing expenses in line with the improved net revenues for the quarter, and higher corporate expense. These increases were partially offset by the benefit-plan curtailment gain, and lower advertising and promotion expenses.

Operating income for the quarter increased 11 percent to $189 million compared to $171 million for the first quarter of 2006. The increase was primarily driven by the benefit-plan curtailment gain, partially offset by restructuring charges related to a planned distribution center closure in Europe.

Interest expense for the first quarter of 2007 decreased 13 percent to $58 million compared to $66 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower average debt balances during the 2007 quarter, reflecting debt refinancing and debt reduction actions taken during 2006.

“We continue to build our financial strength,” said Hans Ploos van Amstel, chief financial officer. “Our margins remained strong and our revenues grew. We are delivering more profit to the bottom line as a result of our lower debt, and lower interest and tax rates. In addition, we will continue to focus on ensuring our cost structure is competitive.”

The company’s first-quarter investor conference call will be available through a live audio Webcast at http://www.levistrauss.com/Financials/EarningsWebcasts.aspx today, April 10, 2007, at 1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m. EDT. A replay is available on the Web site the same day and will be archived for one month. A telephone replay also is available through April 17, 2007, at 800-642-1687 in the United States and Canada, or 706-645-9291 internationally; I.D. No. 4529229.

Innovo Q1 Results

Their spin:

Innovo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: INNO) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended February 24, 2007.

Highlights
-- Net sales increased 32% to $13.8 million compared to $10.4 million in the first quarter of 2006. -- The Company generated positive operating income during the period.-- The Company experienced positive operating leverage during the first quarter, growing sales 32%, improving gross profits by 180% and reducing SG&A by 13% from a year ago.

For the quarter ended February 24, 2007, total net sales from continuing operations increased 32% to $13.8 million compared to total net sales from continuing operations of $10.4 million in the prior year period. The company reported a loss from continuing operations of $173,000, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $4.1 million in the corresponding period a year ago.

Marc Crossman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Innovo, commented, "Our first quarter results underscore the positive progress we have made broadening the Joe's Jeans brand by continuing to increase our domestic distribution and evolving our product line. Our strong sales results coupled with a reduction in our operating expenses allowed us to dramatically improve our losses from a year ago. We are very pleased with our start to fiscal 2007 and look forward to continuing with this positive momentum across our business."

For the quarter ended February 24, 2007, gross margins for the Company's Joe's Jean business increased to 37% from 29% in the corresponding period a year ago. Selling, general and administrative expense for the first quarter of 2007 decreased 13% to $5.0 million compared to $5.7 million for the first quarter of 2006.

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter fiscal 2007 results today, April 10, 2007 beginning at 4:30 pm ET. To access the live call, please dial (866) 356-3377 (U.S.) or (617) 597-5392 (international). The conference ID number and participant passcode is 98226508 and is entitled the "Q1 2007 Innovo Group Earnings Conference Call." The information provided on the teleconference is only accurate at the time of the conference call, and Innovo Group will take no responsibility for providing updated information. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 6:30 PM Eastern Time on April 10, 2007 until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on April 24, 2007 by dialing (888) 286-8010 (U.S) or (617) 801-6888 (international) and using the conference passcode 56339275. In addition, the conference call will be archived for two weeks on the Company's website at www.innovogroup.com.